3

I'm running TeXnicCenter 1.0 and have just started in LaTeX. I have managed to get text in, get a lot of the formatting commands working and have rendered to pdf. It's awesome. My problem is packages, specifically wasysym. I have been googling and tried:

  • placing wasysym.sty in C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.8\tex\latex\wasysym
  • placing wasysym.sty in the folder containing the document file
  • running Refresh FNDB from mo.exe - I get a permission denied error.

No matter what happens, whenever I try to render a file containing \usepackage{wasysym} it refuses to render. I don't know enough about the error messages to work out what's happening. Can someone please help?

PS I don't have trouble with standard/built-in packages like parskip etc. Just when I tried to install wasysym it threw a tantrum.

Mensch
  • 65,388
JackSprat
  • 31
  • 1
    According to the MiKTeX list of packages wasysym comes with MiKTeX: http://miktex.org/packages/wasysym; did you try using the Package Manager to install the package automatically? – Gonzalo Medina Mar 27 '11 at 01:49
  • It wasn't working automatically, so, assuming it wasn't a standard package, I went to CTAN and downloaded it. After a bit of playing around with the ins file I got the .sty and placed it in the two places mentioned above. I get a fatal error every time I un-% the line calling the package. – JackSprat Mar 27 '11 at 01:56
  • 1
    One option would be to carefully remove the file(s) that you manually installed and then use the Package Manager from MiKTeX: here's the manual: http://docs.miktex.org/manual/ – Gonzalo Medina Mar 27 '11 at 02:08
  • Specifically, this could be useful: Working with the Package Manager: http://docs.miktex.org/manual/pkgmgt.html – Gonzalo Medina Mar 27 '11 at 02:15
  • Don't use texniccenter if you want to install missing packages on-the-fly. texniccenter blocks the installation. Use e.g. for one compilation texworks (which comes with miktex). You can also use the package manager to install packages. Beside this: for a manual installation it is not enough to install wasysym.sty, you need also the font (tfm, pfb-files) and you must activate the map-file. At last: if you get an error message you should copy it in your question. You may not know what it means - we do. – Ulrike Fischer Mar 27 '11 at 08:46
  • @Ulrike: How does TeXnicCenter block package installation? I use it together with MikTeX and it works fine, only some font packages need a little help (cf. this question of mine. I just tried wasysym (which I hadn't used before) and it worked without any problems. – doncherry Apr 29 '11 at 15:08
  • @Jack: Perhaps a similar question: How can I manually install a package on MikTex (Windows), if you actually want to install the package manually, which usually isn't necessary for packages on CTAN. Could you tell us what kinds of error messages you get? – doncherry Apr 29 '11 at 15:13
  • @Ulrike: As you mentioned it, I remembered reading something about installing packages on the fly when I got started with my installation. It's an incompatibility that's listed on the MiKTeX site ... @Jack: not sure if it could solve this problem, but have you tried their recommendation "start MiKTeX Options and choose either Yes or No (but not 'Ask me first') for the option 'Install missing packages on-the-fly'."? It definitely works for me. – doncherry Apr 29 '11 at 15:20
  • @doncherry: I don't know how TeXnicCenter blocks the on-the-fly installation I only know that it blocks the confirmation dialog and so on-the-fly installation can fail. This is a longstanding problem with TeXnicCenter and every week someone tumbles over it. I'm not using TeXnicCenter but winedt. The winedt console had this problem at some time too - for two weeks then the author solved the problem. – Ulrike Fischer Apr 29 '11 at 15:30
  • @Ulrike: Thanks, you're right, it's about the confirmation dialog. I changed that setting right away not to ask for confirmation and it's worked ever since. I figured if I decided to use a package within the document, I wouldn't need to confirm later. But TeXnicCenter definitely has its flaws and there hasn't been an updated stable release in a while. I've been meaning to look at alternatives for a while but haven't come around to do so. – doncherry Apr 29 '11 at 15:35

1 Answers1

5

As @Gonzalo Medina has pointed out, wasysym is included im MiKTeX. Even if it wasn't, you should not manually place files in C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.8 -- either use the package manager, or place all necessary files in your working folder (as a temporary solution) or a local TEXMF tree.

One possible reason for the "permission denied" error you mentioned is that your operating system is Windows 7 and you try to run the package manager and/or the FNDB refresh as normal user. Run it as administrator instead -- this option should be selectable under (Right-click) Properties/Compatibility. (Those may not be the exact labellings -- I'm using a German Win7.)

Mensch
  • 65,388
lockstep
  • 250,273